Tuesday 20 January 2009

animal lovers help Greek pets in need

When I posted about German animal lovers helping pets in need, I received an interesting comment from Anna Sioki. She gave some great links to animal welfare organisations in Greece.

I've been to Greece many times in the past - when I was a PDO (pre dog owner) I didn't know what I was missing and thought it was important to travel the world to educate myself. Now, of course, I realise I can learn everything I need to know from my dog, and I can't imagine a greater pleasure than walking in the dawn listening to the magpies sing and smelling the dog poo - oops! I meant the mown grass and the eucalypts.

Anyway...back to those days in Greece. I remember the dogs mooching around the ancient sites and the village streets. I sometimes wondered who fed them, but as a non-dog person that's as far as it went. Now, I wonder if a trip overseas would be as relaxing. After all, these days I carry a dog-leash in my handbag so I can whip it out if I find a lost dog. I guess I couldn't do that for the pooches I might see wandering around in other countries.

Anna gave a link to a Greek welfare organisation where the text was in Greek, but there is an English page and a German one, which I guess might indicate these are the two main language groups who visit Greece as tourists.
On the Greek page there is a blog that looks interesting. I wish they would include the widget that translates pages, but maybe that's not so easy for a language in another alphabet. There are plenty of photos of appealing dogs and other pets - in need of a home, presumably. I felt sad to read on the English page that there is still work to be done to educate people that it is better to neuter strays rather than poison them.

The organisation was formed in association with the Greek Animal Welfare Fund (GAWF), which is a British organisation that:
provides Greek animal protection societies with project funding, expert assistance, training and practical help, including assistance with neutering campaigns. Over the past twenty years, GAWF has provided more than a million pounds (sterling) towards animal welfare work in Greece.
Amongst a list of eminent patrons of GAWF is Rolf Harris, which of course gives it lots of credibility in an Aussie's eyes!

By the way, you might like to have a look at the GAWF site, just to see the cute little dog-face icon that follows the cursor.

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